Roger

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Rolfe

 

the son and successor of Roger i., count of
Sicily. He took arms against Pope Innocent
n., whom be made prisoner in 1139; but the
latter, by recognizing Roger as king of Sicily,
obtained his liberty. Roger made conquests in
Africa and Greece, and from the latter coun-
try introduced into Sicily the silkworm and
the mulberry tree.
Roger de Coverley, Sir, one of the mem-
bers of the imaginary club under whose di-
rection the Spectator was professedly edited.
The conception and first sketch of Sir Roger
were due to Steele, although Addison gained
immortal glory in filling up the character.
Rogers, Robert (1727-^ 84), American
soldier, frontier fighter, and Loyalist, born at
Londonderry, N. H. During the French and
Indian War he raised and commanded a body
of men called 'Rogers Rangers/ which proved
invaluable to the English commanders in all
the campaigns of the war, acting independ-
ently most of the time. He was with Wolfe
at Quebec in 1759, ^and later in the year
destroyed the Abenaki stronghold in Maine.
In 1760 he assisted Amherst in the Montreal
campaign, and after its capitulation was sent
up the lakes to secure the surrender of the
western posts.
Rogers, Will (1879-193$), humorist and
cowboy actor, was killed in an airplane acci-
dent which also took the life of his holiday
companion, Wiley Post, round-the-world
flyer, on August 15, 1935, near Point Bar-
row, Alaska. Rogers was born in the old
Indian Territory (now the state of Okla-
homa) and attended a military academy in
Missouri. He rode the range in his youth,
traveled widely and he began a stage career
at Hammerstein's Roof Garden, New York,
in 1925. His quaint humor made him na-
tionally famous and at his death he was
ranked with Twain and Artemus Ward.
He wrote a column which appeared in
more than 200 newspapers every day, and
after successes in the Ziegfeld Follies ap-
peared in moving pictures and gave weekly
radio talks.
Rogers, William Barton (1804-82), Am-
erican scientist. He was born in Philadelphia,
and graduated at William and Mary College,
Jamestown, Va., 1822. In the following year
he was appointed professor of mathematics in
the college and retained the position un-
til 1825. In 1860 he submitted plans to
n Committee of Associated Institutions of
Science that was considering the advance-
ment of scientific instruction, and these plans
in the following year became the basis

of the famous Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. In 1862 he was elected first pres-
ident of the institute, which, however, was
not opened for instruction until 1865. From
1865 to 1868 Professor Rogers filled the chairs
of physics and geology in the institute. He
was founder of the American Association for
the Promotion of Social Science, and presi-
dent of the National Academy of Science
(1878). His Life and Letters, edited by his
wife, was published in 2 vols., 1896.
Rogier, Charles La tour (1800-85), Bel-
gian statesman, was born at St.' Quentin,
France. From 1861 to 1868 he was president
and foreign minister.
Roget, Peter Mark (1779-1869), English
physician and lexicographer, was the com-
piler of a Thesa2trus of English Words and
Phrases, on which he spent nearly fifty years.
Rohan, an ancient Breton family, descend-
ed from the Dukes of Brittany. The most im-
portant members were Rene, Vicomte de
Rohan (1550-86), one of the most valient
captains of his time, and Henri, Due de Ro-
han (1579-1638), leader of the Huguenot
party in France during the reign of Louis
xm. He wrote admirable MSmoires.
Rohillas, a race of Pathan horsemen, who
came from Afghanistan and conquered the
rich province to which they gave the name of
Rohilkhand. In 1774 they were driven from
Rohilkhand by the East India Company and
the nawab wazir.
Rohlfs, Anna Katharine (Green)
(1846-1935), American author, born in
Brooklyn, N. Y., the daughter of James
Wilson Green of that place. Her family early
removed to Buffalo, N. Y. Her first pub-
lished book, The Leavenworth Case, attracted
wide attention for the ingenuity of the plot.
Among many other novels, all detective
stories, were The Mystery of the Hasty Ar-
row, 1917; The Step on the Stair, 1922.
Roland, paladin of Charlemagne, fell Aug.
15, 778 at Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees after
conquering Spain n. of Ebro, except Sara-
gossa. He became the hero of the national
epic of France, comparable to the Mort
D'Arlhur, Cid, and Nibehmgenlied. The
Chanson de Roland was the poem chanted
by Taillefer at Hastings (Wace, Roman de
RoiC).
Rolfe, John (1585-1622), English colon-
ist, husband of Pocahontas, b. in Norfolk. He
came to Virginia in May, 1610, having sailed
in the ship with Sir George Somers, June 8,
1609, and having spent a year at Bermuda,
.where they were shipwrecked. He became a